A short list beats a stack.
You posted the role and the résumés arrived in a pile. Somewhere in that pile is a person who could do the job, and you have to read all of it to find them. We do that part for you and hand you the few names that earn a conversation.
What "worth an interview" means
Every résumé in a stack is a decision you still have to make. A name on our list has already answered the questions you would ask in a first call, so the hour you spend with them is spent on the work, not on finding out whether the call should be happening at all.
They can do the job you described
Not a job with similar words in the title. Before we search, we write a candidate profile with you, and every person we send is measured against that page rather than against a keyword filter.
They know what the job is
We have told them about the team, the stack, the pace and the parts that are hard. If any of that put them off, they are not on the list. The people who are left want this role, not just a role.
You know why they are there
Each name comes with our read on the person: what they have built, why they are open to a move, where they may need support, and the one thing we would want you to ask them.
How we screen
The same scorecard for every candidate, before you ever see a name. Four things have to line up.
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Skills
We talk through real work, not a checklist of tools. What did they build, what broke, what would they do differently. The answers are checked against the profile you signed off on.
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Motivation
Why this role, why now, and what would have to be true for them to leave where they are. Curiosity alone does not make the list. A clear reason to move does.
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Compensation alignment
Their expectations and your range are compared before the first interview, in plain terms. The offer stage should be a confirmation, not a negotiation you did not see coming.
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References
We speak with people who have worked beside them and we ask about the hard stretches, not the highlight reel. How someone behaves when a release slips tells you more than how they behave when it ships.
Most of our sourcing starts warm, with people we already know or have been introduced to, and works outward from there. Many of the best people are not applying anywhere, which is one reason they never show up in the stack.
What we place
IT and information systems roles, from a contractor who covers one project to the leader who owns the whole function.
Cloud and infrastructure
- Cloud engineers
- Systems engineers
- Network engineers
- Help desk and support
Software development
- Software engineers
- Project and product managers
- Business analysts
- Quality assurance
Data and analytics
- Data engineers
- Data scientists
- BI developers and analysts
- Data analysts
On whatever terms the work needs: contractors and consultants to strengthen a team for a stretch, contract-to-hire when you want to be sure before you commit, permanent hires, and technology leaders for the seats that shape everything under them.
Our employers are technology companies, healthcare organisations, manufacturers and financial services firms. We work from our base in Brentwood, Tennessee, across Middle Tennessee and beyond.
The feedback loop
A short list only works if information moves quickly in both directions. Good candidates have options, and a slow decision is usually a lost one.
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After each interview
We ask you for a quick read and we bring you the candidate's read the same way. If someone has cooled, or if you have, you hear it straight away instead of at the end of the process.
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Before the offer
We plan the offer with you, including the counter-offer the current employer is likely to make, so the number you land on is one the candidate can accept without a second round.
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Through the start
We stay close from acceptance to the first day and check in with both of you after the start, because the placement is not finished when the paperwork is.
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When it is not a fit
If a search is not one we can run well, or the role as written will not attract the person you need, we say so early. A search we should not take is not one we will take.
Affinity Search Partners was founded in 2013 and is led by its founder. We would rather keep a relationship with you across several searches than win one and move on, and everything above follows from that.
One role that has been open too long?
Send it over. We will tell you plainly whether we can help, and if we cannot, we will say that too. No obligation, just a conversation.